Polymer Sample Identification Using Quest ATR from Specac: Part 1 of 3

IR spectroscopy is a useful tool for group chemical species identification of a wide variety of sample materials, particularly for the classification of “organic” chemical materials based upon carbon atoms being present in the molecular structure. Many plastic and polymeric type samples which can be included in the category of organic molecular materials can be classified into particular “family” groupings and it is possible to identify the sample family types both qualitatively and quantitatively by use of the Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) technique as an IR measurement. In this application note the Specac Quest ATR accessory with diamond crystal puck was used for measurement of a variety of plastic/polymer sample types.